Semantic networks are being used in increasing numbers to link information items with one another and to find them again at a later time. These forms of networks with their algorithms are also referred to as knowledge networks or ontologies, whereby information objects are connected with one another by edges which exhibit specific semantics.
Navigation through the network is effected along these edges and for preference by means of inferential algorithms. These traverse the network in the quest for statements.
Because of the large variety of information possibly stored in such knowledge networks, the need arises for access to be restricted or made possible to specific areas of the network under certain circumstances.
In the considerations regarding the structure of the user management, criteria such as efficiency and usability of existing algorithms and data structures play a decisive part.
Known solutions implement the access control on the table level, as it is known, for example, from relational databases.
The problem addressed by the invention is to provide an efficient and flexibly configurable access control which is technically and ergonomically integrated, and which takes account of the complexity of knowledge networks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,947 discloses a method to control the access to network resources. This approach uses a relational database to store the access information. Furthermore the rights are stored explicitly and not as rules, which are executed at runtime. Furthermore the rights are used to control the access of the objects which are located externally. Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,947 discloses a tight relation between User-Groups and data-categories.
US 2003/0126136 A1 discloses a framework and a semantic network